Timing and scoring in car races is generally performed by human trackers. The trackers visually track each car as it is driven around the race track and record its lap number and elapsed time. Because races may have thirty or forty cars or more, and because it is difficult to continuously assimilate and tally the information from the human trackers, confusion as to timing and scoring can arise during a race. Occasionally, an error is made as to whether a car completed all of the laps or as to the relative position of each car. Such errors can be costly and embarrassing.
There have been attempts to automate the timing and scoring of a race. These automated prior art systems generally perform unsatisfactorily. For a timing and scoring system to perform satisfactorily, some technical problems must be overcome. First, the automated system must be able to resolve the position of each car at the finish line within a short distance. Such high spatial resolution is required in order to determine which car crossed the finish line first on each lap and in particular on the final lap. If the spatial resolution is too low, a car in second place that is only a short distance behind the first place car may be improperly identified as being tied for first place.
Another problem is that the automated timing and scoring system must be able to distinguish each car from the other cars. This of course is to allow tracking of each individual car. Furthermore, the system must be able to detect all of the cars simultaneously if need be. This is so if several cars cross the finish line simultaneously on a lap, all will be detected and none will be missed.
Still another problem involves the ambient electromagnetic noise found at race tracks. Race tracks are very noisy (in the electromagnetic sense) places. In addition to all of the local radio, television, powerline, etc. noise in the area, the ignition systems in the race cars produce high energy broad band noise. There are also two-way radios in use for communications between the drivers and their pit crews. Thus, an automated timing and scoring system must be able to identify real timing and scoring signals from noise signals. Inaccuracies are introduced whenever the system interprets a noise signal as a valid signal.